A million dollars of Rugby World Cup tickets have sold every day since opening night - with excitement over the tournament hitting fever-pitch. Tournament boss Martin Snedden told the Herald last night from the South Africa vs Wales match in Wellington that total sales had pushed through 1.2 million tickets and past the $250 million mark. "The spirit around the country was incredible - we had become the stadium of four million as promised in our pitch to host the tournament," he said. "Unbelievable. The atmosphere is just unbelievable," Mr Snedden said. "The crowds, just everyone is getting stuck into it.

"I was at Argentina-England in Dunedin and you just couldn't hear yourself. "It's sort of like every single game has come alive so far. The crowd participation is so strong and really into backing one side or the other." New Zealanders were picking visiting teams to support and showing their hospitality, he said" (this was very evident at the Italy/Australia game 99% of the Kiwi's were backing Italy). "At Dunedin everyone was for England or Argentina, and there was just about no one neutral in there," he said. "It's working, mate, it's working." Rugby New Zealand chief operating officer Therese Walsh said the tournament was now seeing sales of $1 million a day.

"We always expected sales to rise as the tournament comes alive across the country, so it's great to see so many New Zealanders now wanting to be ringside." At least 25,000 tickets sold at the last minute to the matches over the opening weekend. The Australia vs Italy match at North Harbour Stadium saw a surge of more than 8000 sales in the final lead-up. Only 17,500 tickets had been sold by Wednesday last week - but the capacity crowd yesterday was 25,731. Matches at Invercargill and Rotorua also witnessed huge buy-ins, with last-minute sales of 3400 and 2800 respectively. Rugby Park Stadium reached 95 per cent capacity after concerns just days earlier that thousands of tickets were left.

Eden Park on opening night and Dunedin's new covered stadium for the Argentina vs England game both sold out. "You have just seen people rise up right around the country and just embrace this. And I'm just looking around the stadium in Wellington and the number of South African flags and Welsh flags ... " said Mr Snedden. "I came out on the bus, and in the middle of Courtenay Place there's a little Welsh pub - the only Welsh pub in the Southern Hemisphere - and the owner said it was his best trading night ever. He was just ecstatic." Fan zones in Wellington, Christchurch and Taranaki had also buzzed on opening night. "The people in all the city centres have stood up," Mr Snedden said.

"People have just got the spirit - and they're doing it the right way. They're celebrating the diversity of the whole thing." The beginning of the surge had been the arrival of the Tongans in Auckland last week, he said. "That lighted the fire in some way, and others are picking up the responsibility for that and carrying it on. It's just so energising." Rugby New Zealand is urging fans to get in quick to nab the last few available tickets. Ms Walsh said: "We are expecting most of these matches to be at or near capacity. So our advice to fans is to purchase tickets now and avoid disappointment or having to queue on match day."

Rugby World Cup fever has taken off, and organisers are now confident of reaching their $270 million ticket-sales target - and reducing the amount the tournament will cost New Zealand. Six matches are likely to be sell-outs this week - after almost 220,000 spectators attended the opening weekend's matches. Eleven games will be played between tomorrow and Sunday and tickets - some as cheap as $31 - are still available for several of them. "We have had a great start to the tournament. There couldn't have been a better platform for [the later] matches," said a RWC spokesman.

Ticket sales have exceeded $1 million each day since the opening match between the All Blacks and Tonga on Friday - and are edging towards the organisers' goal of selling $270 million worth, or 85 per cent of the total available. More than $250 million worth had been sold by yesterday morning, leaving organisers only $19.5 million short of the 85 per cent threshold. Last year, Rugby New Zealand 2011 Ltd forecast the World Cup would end with a $39 million loss, two-thirds of which would be picked up by the government and one-third by the NZ Rugby Union. Ticket sales are New Zealand's only direct source of revenue. If the $270 million goal is exceeded, the loss the country will have to carry will be reduced. Tournament boss Martin Snedden told the Herald at the weekend that every match had come alive, fulfilling the promise of making New Zealand a stadium of four million. "You have just seen people rise up right around the country and just embrace this," Mr Snedden said. Last night, IRB tournament director Kit McConnell said ticket sales had continued to be strong.

"We were so thrilled with how the country came alive around the matches and New Zealanders embraced all the fans from overseas. It was fantastic rugby on the field and a festival atmosphere off it." The 2003 and 2007 tournaments had shown late ticket sales for games right through the event were normal, he said. Mr McConnell believed even more tickets would sell now New Zealanders had seen the quality of the rugby. "Every match has been absolutely compelling. It had a lot of people glued to the TV or turning up as spectators at the stadiums, where the atmosphere has been fantastic." Three of last weekend's matches had capacity crowds, and the four others were close to capacity.

"We will surely file an application for World Cup 2023. We want be masters of the World Cup 2019, but withdrew in favor of the candidacy of the World Cup 2013 Rugby-7, which is known to be held in Moscow.
Nothing is impossible. Russia has already received the Winter Olympics and soccer World Cup. I see no reason for us not to continue the winning tradition.
Russia - a country that wants to develop and build a rugby stadium. And we are on the right track, "- said President of the Russian Rugby Union Vyacheslav Kop'ev.

"Russia has all chances to hold the Rugby World Cup - said Sean Fitzpatrick, the owner of the first ever Rugby World Cup and a living legend of the sport. - I think the main thing you need to do - play with passion and vigor. And to achieve the popularization of this sport in their country. Russia's participation in the World Cup 2011 - a great opportunity to show their best side."

Prior to 2018 only in the European part of Russia will be at least 19 new stadiums with a capacity of 30,000 to 90,000.